One Last Time
by GreenGirl47
Summary: From Can't Hardly Wait: It's the night before Denise leaves for college, Kenny comes to see her one last time. Rated "R" for sexuality. R


Disclaimer: These characters belong to Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan. (Two of the coolest people ever!)  
  
A/N: Kenny and Denise probably seem out of character here, but that's because I'm exploring a side of them and their relationship that was only briefly touched upon in the film. This fic takes place about 3 months after The Party. Enjoy.  
  
As Kenny drove slowly home, the entire summer flashed before his eyes. Every detail played through his head and his heart, from the first time he and Denise kissed to just ten minutes earlier when he'd told her for the first time that he loved her. And, although he tried to hold them back, the tears were inevitable. He dropped the charade for the last time as he allowed himself to cry. He cried at the emptiness he felt and at the pounding fear that he would lose Denise. It was thanks to her that he was so happy and so content and just so real. Kenny knew that he had changed tremendously for the better that summer. Not changed as in different, but changed as in more the same than ever. It was very satisfying to be able to be himself and feel comfortable with who he really was.   
  
Kenny pulled into his driveway and sat for a few moments as he tried to collect himself. Finally, he took the keys out of the ignition and got out of the car. He took a deep breath, then walked into his house, hoping that nobody was home. Luckily, there was a note from his parents saying that they would be gone until late and his brother was staying at a friend's house. He tossed his keys onto the kitchen table and headed up the stairs to his bedroom. He flopped down heavily on his bed, sprawling out over the dark blue comforter. He put his hands behind his head as he stared blurry-eyed up at the ceiling, wondering what was going to happen to him and Denise.  
__________________________________________________________________________  
  
Denise stood in the doorway of her bedroom, surveying the mess that packing for college had left. She sighed deeply as she thought about what an emotional mess packing for college had left as well.   
  
Denise had also changed greatly over the summer. She learned that it was all right to show her sensitive side and that it was all right not to be locked up in herself. Kenny had given her the love and acceptance that she'd so desperately wanted but had pretended to scorn. He'd melted the ice that had once surrounded her heart and frozen her emotions. She could feel again. Except at the moment all she felt was sadness.   
  
In the very beginning, Denise thought that Kenny might just have been after what every teen guy is after. She hadn't known if the feelings were truly there. But they hadn't had sex since the party and he'd never asked her to or pushed her to do it. Their relationship was satisfying, nurturing, everything that both of them thought they'd never find in another person. What they'd found in each other was everything they wanted and needed. Friendship, love, intimacy, it was all there. There was something more as well, something that neither of them could put their finger on. It was something wonderful and it sealed their bond. And the last thing in the world that Denise wanted was to be away from Kenny. But as she snapped out of her trance she remembered she still needed to finish packing. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and started in on sorting through clothes.  
  
Absentmindedly, she tossed shirt after shirt and pair after pair of pants into her duffel bag. It wasn't until she got to the bottom of the clothes pile that she realized that half of the stuff she had packed she hadn't worn since junior year.  
  
Oh well, she thought. Maybe it's time for a change in wardrobe.  
  
She left the clothes in her bag and shoved it across the room, then glanced around restlessly, feeling like she was forgetting something.  
  
Pictures, she realized. I'm forgetting pictures. Denise got up off the floor and walked to her dresser. She kept all her pictures in a box in the top drawer. She grabbed the box, sat down on her bed, and slowly opened it.   
  
She sifted through the photos for half an hour, reliving the summer through memories. She put aside a few photos of her and Preston to take with her, then started looking for pictures of her and Kenny. She smiled as she pulled out familiar pictures, putting them in a pile to bring with her to NYU.   
  
Then she came across a photo that she didn't remember having taken. It was a picture of them sitting out by Kenny's pool, dipping their feet in the water. Kenny had his hand on her knee and she had her hand on top of his. Their foreheads were pressed together and they were gazing into one another's eyes. They both looked like all they needed was each other.  
  
Denise quickly put the picture down in the pile with the others and stood up, wrapping her arms around herself. She walked to her window and gazed out as the last wisps of daylight gave way to the dark. The staggered breeze echoed her sighs as she wished more than anything that she could see Kenny before she left.  
__________________________________________________________________________  
  
Kenny lay silently on his bed, thinking about what life was going to be like when he and Denise were 3,000 miles apart. The four miles between their houses sometimes felt like too far. He was so unsure of himself without Denise around to keep him sane.  
  
College is gonna be hell, Kenny thought as he sighed and rolled over. He peered through the darkness that had washed over his room and looked at the fluorescent red numbers on his digital clock. It was 10:47. If this had been a normal night, he and Denise would still have been out together.   
  
Kenny stood up and stretched his stiff muscles, then flipped on the table lamp. He sat down at his desk and dazedly searched through the drawers, looking for something to keep him occupied. He grabbed the first thing that caught his attention-- his class ring. It was a silver band with three "H" 's outlined with tiny crimson gems. The words "Class of 1998" and his name were also engraved in it. He thought about how Denise had often admired it. Even though she hadn't been into the whole high school thing, she told Kenny how she'd really wanted one but couldn't afford it.   
  
Kenny smiled to himself, amused at the fact that no matter what he did his mind always went back to Denise. And then he felt the sadness start to creep in again. He was truly miserable at the mere thought that the next morning she would be across the country. He glanced back at his clock again. 10:53. He wondered if it was too late to go and see her one last time before she left. He knew her parents didn't like people coming over after 10:30. But there was always her window…  
  
For a week during July, Denise had been sick and her parents wouldn't let Kenny go to see her for fear that he would fall ill also. So every night for that week he'd climbed up the drainpipe and gone in through her window to visit her. It had worked out perfectly-- her parents never found out about it.  
  
That's it, Kenny thought. I'll go in through her window. I have to see her once more. He pocketed the ring, got up from the desk, turned the light off, and went down to the kitchen to get his keys. Within seconds he was out the door and in his car. He drove quickly down the street and started on his way to her house.  
__________________________________________________________________________  
  
Denise sat noiselessly on her bed, a single tear glistening on her cheek. Because her father occupied the phone line all night for work, she had no way of talking to Kenny again until she arrived at NYU the next day. A totally helpless feeling engulfed her. It had only been a few hours since she'd seen him, but knowing that she wouldn't be able to see him again for several weeks at least made her want him there even more.  
  
If you had told her just a few months ago that she was going to end up in any kind of a relationship with Kenny Fisher, she would have laughed in your face. But without a doubt, getting locked in that bathroom with Kenny was the best thing that ever happened to her.  
  
Denise decided that the most intelligent thing for her to do would be to go to sleep. Maybe then she could at least be rested when she left the next morning. She slid off her bed and started changing into her pajamas. She took off her t-shirt and jeans and slipped into a pair of plaid scrub pants and a dark green, spaghetti-strap tank top. She pulled her chin-length auburn hair into a short ponytail, leaving a few strands in her face. Then she climbed under her covers and switched the light off, trying to force slumber. She really wasn't tired, but second to seeing Kenny, sleep seemed to be the only way to make the sadness go away.  
  
Denise lay silently for several minutes, listening to the wind blowing outside her window. The leafy branches of the tree made soft scraping noises against the side of her house. These were the noises that she had fallen asleep to every single night of her life, but tonight the familiar comfort of them was gone. They seemed to be magnified a thousand times over, making falling asleep impossible.  
God dammit, she thought. Of course this just had to happen the last night I'm home. She rolled over and covered her head with a pillow, but the noises just seemed to grow louder. The scraping was turning into a banging. Ugh, the last time it was this bad was when Kenny was coming through my window. She sighed. Then the realization hit her. Ohmigod…Kenny?? Quickly she threw the covers back, flipped on the light, and jumped out of bed, sprinting to the window. She drew back the sheer blue curtains… and there was Kenny, hanging from the sill.   
  
"Hey," he grunted, flashing her a grin. " Will you give me a hand?" Denise laughed and reached out, grabbing Kenny by his arms. "Okay, on three," he instructed. "One, two, three!" Denise tugged on his arms as he used his feet to propel himself through the window. The force from his entrance made them both lose their balance and they toppled backward onto the floor in a heap of giggles.   
  
Kenny got up quickly, pulling Denise to her feet and into his arms. She smiled at the sweet familiarity of the embrace.  
"You don't know how glad I am to see you," she said softly.   
"Oh, I think I have an idea," he replied. "I couldn't let you leave without stopping by once more." He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, enjoying every ounce of feeling that was passing between them.  
"You're staying for awhile, aren't you?" she asked, pulling away a little to look at his face.  
"For as long as you want me to."   
"Try forever," she said.   
"That's what I was thinking." Denise buried her face back into his neck. "Know what else I'm thinking?" Kenny asked.  
"What?"  
"How much I wanna kiss you." She smiled and looked at his face again.  
"You know, we must have some weird psychic thing going…"   
They slowly leaned toward each other and kissed. And it felt so good. The usual sparks that happened between them seemed to be explosions that night. It was like their first kiss all over again.  
Several seconds later, they pulled apart.  
"Hey, I think we just had a Moment," Kenny joked.   
"I wonder what took us so long?"  
"Couldn't tell ya." She took his hand and led him over to her bed, where they sat down.  
"So... what are your plans until classes start?" Denise asked.  
"I don't know," Kenny said. "I haven't really thought that far ahead." She smiled.  
"Oh. Well, just promise me you won't go ghetto again while I'm away." He grinned mischievously.  
"Damn, Special K is just burnin' to get out! I was plannin' on cruisin' da hood for some fiiiiine booty!" Denise let out a laugh and mockingly threw a punch at his shoulder, but he jerked away and playfully grabbed her wrist. "Come on, you know I'm joking." Kenny raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.   
"I do know," she said, sighing. They were silent for a few moments, trying to think of something else to talk about. "So, community college, huh?" Denise finally said.  
"Yeah," Kenny grimaced. "I didn't quite get the grades to make UCLA." She nodded understandingly.   
"It's okay. I mean, at least it's a sure thing that when I come home you'll be here."  
"That's true. Plus, Richie and Sammy are staying around so it's not like I'll be totally alone," he added, referring to his best friends.   
"I hear Lynn Eckert and Ashley Williams are going to Huntington Hills Community College, too," Denise told him. Kenny made a face.  
"Oh God, now I'll never live down that Chester Cheetah thing." She gave him a quizzical look.   
"What?" He shook his head.   
"Never mind. It's kinda... embarrassing."  
"Tell me," she said, interested.  
"No, it's really not --"  
"Please?" she asked.  
"No," he replied, ducking his head.  
"Come on."  
"Noooo."  
"Kenny."  
"What?"  
"Tell me."  
"Why?"  
"Because I wanna know."   
"I don't know..."  
"You brought it up."   
Kenny sighed. "Okay, fine. In seventh grade we were all at Lynn's house playing spin-the-bottle, right? Well, Ashley and Lynn and a bunch of their girlfriends were, like, staring at me the whole time, so I thought they were up on me. I was like 'Yeah, baby! Girls want me!' Then I found out that the reason they were staring at me was because I was eating Cheetos and I had a bunch of orange crap stuck in my braces. They were kind enough to refer to me as 'Chester Cheetah' for the next five years. And you know what the worst part is?"  
"Huh?" Denise asked, shaking with laughter.   
"I didn't find out about any of it until that party in the beginning of the summer."   
She started laughing even harder.   
"It's not funny!" Kenny protested.  
"Yes it is!" Denise said. Kenny tried to glare at her, but broke down.  
"You're right." He let out a chuckle. "And hey, if it hadn't happened, I might have ended up with Ashley instead of you." She stopped laughing.  
"That's true," she said. A silence. "You know, I used to think Preston was crazy talking about all that fate bullshit. But now I'm not so sure. I mean, how likely is it that I just happened to walk in on you in that bathroom? And that the doorknob just happened to fall off?" Kenny nodded.  
"I know. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. It doesn't make sense that it was purely chance." They looked at each other for a long moment. "That's why I'm so sure nothing's going to happen to us while we're apart," he said quietly. Denise leaned close to him.  
"Me too." She gave his lips a soft kiss. "And because.... I love you."  
"I love you too, Denise," Kenny whispered. She kissed him again. And again. And again.   
  
Kenny put his arms around her as they lay down on the bed and started making out. She held his face gently between her hands, stroking his neck with her fingertips.  
God, this is good. Denise thought. So good...  
Something felt wonderfully different about what they were doing. Maybe it was the fact that she was leaving the next morning. Or maybe it was the emotional adrenaline from saying "I love you" and really meaning it. But Denise could taste a sweetness in Kenny's kisses that hadn't been there before as he gently ran his tongue through her mouth.   
  
Kenny shivered with desire as Denise moved her hands from his face and wrapped them around his shoulders, pulling his body closer. He pressed his lips against her neck and worked his way down across her collarbone, his breath hot on her skin. Passion pulsed through his veins, setting his senses ablaze.   
"I love you," he whispered again.  
"I love y-" she started to reply, interrupted by Kenny's mouth over hers. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, taking in the faded scent of his Old Spice cologne.   
  
Subconsciously, they shifted position. Now Denise lay flat on her back, Kenny on top of her. As he moved to kiss her again, he felt her flinch. Concerned, he pulled back.  
"Are you okay?" he asked.   
"Yeah," she said. "It's just… you're kinda on my hair." He looked down and saw that he had her pinned down by her ponytail. He quickly moved his hand, cheeks blushing bright red.  
"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed. Ugh, just scalp her why don't you, Kenny.   
"It's all right," she assured him, giggling at his embarrassment.  
"Are you sure you're okay?"  
"I'm fine."  
"Positive?" She rolled her eyes.  
"Yes. Now shut up and kiss me." Before he could respond, she pressed her lips back up against his and slipped her tongue into his mouth. The muscles in his face tingled as she hit a particularly sensitive spot. Kenny gave an involuntary groan. He found it incredibly sexy when she took the initiative to kiss him like that. It made him want her even more.   
  
Gradually, Kenny made his way up Denise's shirt. He traced her curves with his fingers and played with her bra straps. His palms were cool and felt good against her skin. She loosened her hold on his body, allowing him to slide her tank top off. He slid his own shirt off, too, before tossing both items of clothing to the floor.  
  
After a few minutes, Denise pulled away from him. He looked at her questioningly and started to sit up, but she shook her head and placed a hand on his chest, pushing him back down to the mattress. They pressed their lips together again and rolled over in the senseless sweetness of their passion. Denise moaned, somewhere between the sheer happiness of being with the person she loved and the total despair of having to lose him in just a few short hours.   
  
One last time...before they had to part.  
  
She reached down and started to unbutton Kenny's pants. They slid off like an old skin, slithering to the floor next to their shirts. He fingered the scrunchie that held her hair back, then gently pulled it out, letting her hair fall down and halo around her head.   
God, she's gorgeous, he thought, running his eyes over her face. Like some kind of angel.   
His breath caught in his throat as he moved to take her pants off. With shaking hands, he untied the drawstring and slid them down over her hips, down her legs, and finally let them fall to the floor.   
  
Denise gently pulled Kenny back up against her, reveling in the white-hot friction of his bare skin. Her lips brushed sensuously across his neck as she breathed his name into his ear. She ran her fingernails lightly up and down his spine, creating a wave of pure ecstasy that seemed to ripple through his entire being.  
  
"Denise," he whispered. "Oh, God…" He slipped his hands beneath her and unhooked her bra, peeling it carefully from her body. His hands continued slowly downward, and soon the last of their clothes hit the floor.   
  
Denise reached down and pulled the blankets up over Kenny and herself, relaxing beneath the comforting pressure of his body. She took his face gently between her hands and gazed into his eyes.  
  
"I love you, Kenny," she said.  
"I love you too, Denise," he replied. "So much."   
They exchanged a few soft, slow kisses before finally giving in to the hunger for passion that had so long gone unsated.   
__________________________________________________________________________  
  
Kenny and Denise collapsed gasping into each other's arms beneath the tangled, sweat-soaked sheets, trying to catch their breath. Kenny's body still crackled with the electricity of their lovemaking as he closed his eyes and concentrated on filling his lungs with air.  
  
Heart pounding, Denise reached out one trembling hand and smoothed Kenny's hair from his face. His skin was hot and damp with perspiration. She could feel the blood pumping tirelessly through his veins.  
"Kenny," she murmured.  
"Yeah?" he asked, planting a kiss on her forehead. She took a deep breath.  
"I… I just…we just… that… that was so…"  
"Shhh," he interrupted gently. "I know. It was." He took her hand in his, playing affectionately with her fingers.  
"It wasn't like that before," she said. "It wasn't so…"   
"Intense?" Kenny suggested. Denise smiled.  
"Yeah. Intense."  
"Well," he said, grinning inwardly. "We weren't in a bathroom this time."  
"Yeah, this was definitely a little more comfortable," she agreed laughingly. "And I hate to disappoint you, but I think I prefer a warm bed to a cold floor."  
"Damn," Kenny joked. "Cuz I was thinkin' if you're up to it, we could, you know, sneak down the hall and..."  
He raised an eyebrow suggestively.  
"I figured I'd worn you out," Denise teased.  
"Me?" he asked. "No way. I'm a machine."  
She giggled softly in reply and snuggled closer to him. He slipped an arm around her waist, kissing her lips gently, as their mood fell back to a tired quietness.  
  
For a few minutes, neither of them spoke. They were content to just lie there and hold one another, basking in the blissful calm that follows the consummation of love. Denise dazedly ran her fingertips in small circles over Kenny's chest, tracing his cutely built pectorals. She felt nothing but absolute satisfaction radiating from his body. She loved it that she could make him feel so good. In her mind, it was the least that she could give to him, because over the past few months, Kenny had given her everything he had. His heart, his soul, his body, his virginity. He'd changed so much, and she knew it was all for her. She wondered how she could possibly leave after all they'd been through.  
  
"Kenny," she whispered, sliding her arm up and around his shoulder.  
"Yeah?" he whispered back, reaching up to touch her hand. She paused a second. Kenny felt a hot tear drip onto his skin. "Denise?" he asked. "Denny, what's wrong?" He brushed her hair away from her face and looked at her. "What's wrong?"  
She stared into his eyes, desperately searching them over for the comfort she so ached for. The elation she'd been high on a minute ago had turned to lead and plummeted her back to reality.  
"I'm scared," she said.  
"Of what?" he asked softly. "Leaving?"  
She nodded.  
"I have no idea what I'm doing. I mean, for the first time ever, the thought of being alone makes me afraid. And that scares me even more."  
Kenny looked at her empathetically.  
"Denise, you won't be alone," he said. "You'll always have me. You know that."  
"But you won't be there with me," she replied. " And I... I've gotten to the point... to the point where... I need you, Kenny."   
  
I need you...  
  
Those three small words echoed over and over again in his head, lapping at his emotions. The urge to break down and cry with her washed over him, but he refused to give in to it. He had to stay strong for her.  
  
"I know," Kenny said, pulling her closer. "I know how you feel."  
"I can't say goodbye again," she whispered. He nodded and ran his hands soothingly up and down her back, distracting the tears that threatened to spill over with the softness of his lover's skin. This was the part of the night he'd been dreading.  
  
In coming to Denise that night, Kenny had known on some level everything that was going to happen. He'd known that he would kiss her, that he would touch her, that he would make love to her. He'd known that she would cry and that he would be the shoulder for her to cry on. And that was how he wanted it. But he also knew in coming to her that he'd put them both through another goodbye, something neither of them was prepared to deal with. He would not allow himself to be the cause of her pain.  
  
"I won't make you say it again," Kenny promised.   
"But I have to," Denise said. "When you leave."  
"No, you don't," he told her. "I'll stay for as long as it takes you to fall asleep. Then you won't have to watch me go."  
"I'll never get to sleep, though, knowing that you're gonna leave if I do."  
"I'll have to leave either way, Denny," he said gently. "It would make it so much easier for you if you don't see."   
"But what about you? You'll still have to say goodbye."  
"I know," he replied. "It's okay, though. I'll be..." He choked briefly on his words. "...okay."  
  
Denise's heart ripped in half at Kenny's stumbling over his reassurances. She couldn't believe what he was going through to keep her from hurting.   
  
"Why are you doing this to yourself?" she asked incredulously.  
"Because I love you too much to do it to you," he answered.  
  
A fresh round of tears pricked at the back of her eyes and slipped silently onto her face.  
  
"Don't cry," he said.  
"Sorry," she whispered.  
"Don't be sorry, either."   
Sorry," she repeated, giving him a small, watery smile. He smiled back, amused at her gentle sarcasm.  
"That's my Denny."  
"Is it?" she asked.  
  
Kenny tilted Denise's face up and pressed his lips against her cheeks, slowing her tears. Salt leaked into his mouth, leaving a strong flavor she could taste as he began to kiss her lips again.   
  
Their kisses now were full of sadness, much unlike those of earlier in the night. Their kisses were full of memories too, and each one told a story. They told the story of two children who pinkie swore to be best friends forever. They told the story of two preteens who drifted apart and broke that promise. They told the story of two insecure teenagers who were reunited by fate and found themselves in finding each other. They told the story of two young adults who were in love for the first time. And they told the story of two people who would be together forever.  
  
Kenny opened his eyes and realized that he had fallen asleep with Denise. He could feel her chest rising and falling slowly against him. His breathing matched hers for one sweet second, then quickened as he caught sight of the clock on her dresser. It was 4:16 AM. Time to go.  
  
Kenny climbed hesitantly out from under the covers. The cold air in Denise's room hit his bare body like an icy sledgehammer, arousing thousands of tiny goosebumps all over him. The warmth coming from her skin beckoned to him, but he resisted the temptation of crawling back into bed with her. He knew if he did he'd never be able to leave.  
  
He dressed quietly, taking great care not to wake her. He pulled his boxers on first. Then he slipped into his jeans, fumbling tiredly with the fly. He pulled his black t-shirt over his head and tucked it in messily. He stepped into his sneakers last, then turned around to say goodbye to Denise. Kenny walked silently to her bed and knelt beside it, wrestling with the sadness that clutched at his heart. He watched her sleep for a few moments, then leaned in and kissed her forehead.  
  
"I love you," he whispered. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his class ring, looking it over for a minute. Then he picked up her hand and slipped it gently onto her little finger. It fit perfectly. "I'm yours for infinity," he told his sleeping girlfriend. He wrapped his own little finger around the ring. "I pinkie swear."  
  
He gave her one last kiss and tucked the blankets up under her chin. "Sleep tight, Denny," Kenny whispered before disappearing out the window.  
  
And she did.   
  
  
  



End file.
